Miley Cyrus has hit out against social media describing Instagram, Facebook and Googling yourself as worse than drugs.

Cyrus, who became famous as a Disney child star in Hannah Montana, told Sunday Night that “I put some picture of me smoking weed … on my Instagram because I was brought up in the way that we never thought marijuana was bad,” when asked about her use of the banned substance.

“You know what hurts your brain? Googling yourself. You know what hurts your brain? Instagram. You know what hurts your brain? Reading comments on Facebook. You know what hurts your brain? Reading US Weekly,” she said.

Contagious moods and narcissistic tendencies

The 21-year-old singer, who has undergone something of an image change since 2012, was referring to comments online made about her after some controversially lewd performances.

Social media, including Facebook, has been shown to have contagious effects on mood and behaviour, with negative comments begetting negative feelings and further comments even if they are not directed towards the reader.

Researchers also discovered that social media breeds narcissistic tendencies, with young people becoming increasingly obsessed with self-image and shallow friendships.

Twitter pledged to update its policies on abuse on the social network and actively suspended accounts related to the abuse suffered by Zelda Williams, daughter of Robin Williams, shortly after his death.

Cyrus continues to post on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, despite the abuse she receives in the comments appended to each post.

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